GMR Infra is currently the top gainer on the BSE, up 4% at Rs.34.40, its current intra day high.

The stock zoomed up on the back of its announcement today morning – arbitration award by the Rt Hon Lord Hoffman’s Tribunal w.r.t wrongful repudiation of its concession agreement for Maldives airport.

The over $500 million airport project contract awarded to GMR for modernising and operating the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), signed in 2010 during the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed. It was terminated by the present government on November 27, 2012.  The airport was taken over by the Maldives Airports Company Limited after a high-voltage legal tussle in which GMR had initially got a stay order on the termination from the Singapore High Court.  Later, though the Maldives’ anti-graft watchdog ruled out any corruption in the leasing of the international airport to GMR, it stated that contract was not terminated on the ground that there was corruption but because it was done against the law of the land.

The Tribunal ruled that collection of Airport Development Charges (ADC) and Insurance Surcharge (IS) as allowed in the agreement was lawful and so was the agreement to adjust the shortfall arising out of non-collection of ADC and IS from the concession fee. The financial accrual on account of this ruling is not yet revealed by the company.